January 28th, 2014’s Snowmageddon stands as a recent, glaring barometer for Atlanta’s handling of winter weather. There have been several icy scares since then, including inches of snow that snuck up on a Friday afternoon commute on December 8th, 2017. The Friday morning commute this past January 10th saw a few inches fall around much of metro Atlanta.
Considering the snow and ice forecast for Winter Storm Cora - and how badly our city handled this in 2014 - this winter weather brush was nearly the perfect scenario.
The inches of snow and then sometimes freezing rain did create some havoc, however.
The effect was worst at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, where two full ground stops Friday (one was due to an engine fire during a plane’s takeoff) created a huge logjam that was felt into Saturday. The first ground stop kept traffic off the runways, allowing snow to layer on them and planes to need deicing. And the pervasiveness of the storm across the country led to numerous delays and canceled flights.
On Saturday, Jan. 11th, a shortage of TSA workers combined with the backlog of delayed passengers created horrendous lines in the world’s busiest airport.
Despite days of warnings and numerous work and school cancellations,cars and trucks got ensnared on the streets at the height of the snowfall. The snow started to whiten and slicken the southern suburbs’ roads in the 6 a.m. hour, causing multiple wrecks on I-75 near Morrow and I-85 near Newnan.
As snowfall began to outpace the road treatment, tractor trailers got stuck on ramps. In DeKalb County, the I-285/eb (Inner Loop) ramp to I-85/northbound (Exit 33) was shut for hours. In Cobb County, the I-75/southbound ramps to I-285 (Exit 259) had multiple trucks stuck in the snow, closing those ramps for several hours, too.
Just south of there, the tricky I-75 hill near West Paces Ferry Road (Exit 255) saw automobiles stuck in the snow and others wrecking. The interstate was shut down intermittently in both directions through the mid-morning hours.
Snow started sticking on the Downtown Connector/I-75/85 in the 7 a.m. hour, and the accumulation and several crashes shut the freeway down around 9 a.m. Friday. Snow helped cause crashes, which stopped cars, which allowed more accumulation, which got those cars stuck.
In East Cobb, Johnson Ferry Road at Columns Drive was shut with cars stuck in the snow.
MARTA also had to suspend bus service because of the road conditions and saw rail service delays because staff had issues getting to work.
But, all that said, metro Atlanta still handled this well.
GDOT began treating roads on Wednesday and brought in crews from South Georgia to help. The brine solution applied to interstates and major state routes did not prevent snow from stacking up, but it kept both it and the rain that followed from freezing on the main surface, GDOT spokesperson Natalie Dale said.
And many people wisely elected to stay home both Friday and Saturday, minimizing what could have been an awful traffic situation.
Thankfully, the freezing rain and ice accumulation ended up being less than expected. There were numerous places with frozen snow patches, but the roads became passable a lot more quickly than they did 11 years ago.
So, Atlanta got a chance to have a real, enjoyable snow day. The dustings of snow in 2018 and 2022 were enough to scare the masses off the roads, but not enough to play in the snow on those bonus days off.
But 2025’s brush with Jack Frost allowed many people to enjoy a sizable amount of snow in the right place - at home. On a Friday. And the ice impact on trees and powerlines did not create the monstrous power outages normally seen in storms like this.
By Sunday, driving was largely safe again. And by Monday, life in Atlanta returned to normal.
Our metro area certainly has come a long way since 2014.
Doug Turnbull has covered Atlanta traffic for more than 20 years and written “Gridlock Guy” since 2017. Doug also co-hosts the “Five to Go Podcast,” a weekly deep dive on stories in motorsports. Contact him at fireballturnbull@gmail.com.
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